So, why are we in Afghanistan?

8022010

Very good question:

U.S. Forces in Afghanistan - AP Photo

– One very serious answer is, because the United States can not forget what happened on 9/11. The march to Kabul and the mountains surrounding the borders of Afghanistan and Pakistan is where most of the Taliban and the Al Qaeda organizations are deeply rooted…Here is a brief history:

Taliban:

The Taliban is the Sunni Islamic group that ruled Afghanistan between 1996 and 2001. It was a group of students dedicated in cleansing Afghanistan, and was a welcome from Afgans who were weary of the existing corruption of the country.

The Taliban was then, joined by Osama Bin Laden in their fight against the Soviet Union who began to invade Afghanistan. Osama Bin Laden was a great exponent, with money, influence, and himself as an ally of the Taliban, which incidentally was secretly armed by the United States to help the ware against the Soviets.

Al-Qaeda:

Created around 1988, Al-Qaeda is a terrorist group led by Osama Bin Laden in order to help the Taliban rid itself from the invading Soviet Union.

It is a group that is determined to rid the world of non-Islamic people through out the world using violence.

Al-Qaeda leaders are calling on Muslims to kill Americans, including civilians and their allies, who they believe are the helpers of Satan.

Mujahedeen:

Mujahedeen are the Taliban students that were fighting against the Soviets. The name comes from the Arabic meaning “struggler” and is a Muslim fighting a Jihad.

These three entities all have violence, hatred, religion, ideals and Osama Bin Laden in common. Who, whether alive or dead, is the essence of Jihad, the fight against the infidels (The U.S. and its allies)

Links between Pakistan and al-Qaeda:

First, Pakistan has to acknowledge that al-Qaeda is a terrorist group, which it hasn’t. The Taliban in Pakistan is yet another extremist group that is led by veteran Taliban members of the Afghan-Soviet conflict, and that are now fighting against the Pakistani government, and while the government of Pakistan is in a world stage trying to fight with the U.S. against the Taliban, the Military Intelligent Agency is undermining the government by supporting the Taliban.

Can Pakistan be governed?

I don’t believe Pakistan can be governed properly; there is too much corruption, although there is great danger that the Taliban can get a hold of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons. India also shows a great concern since they have disagreements with Pakistan over the Kashmir.

Thomas Friedman, journalist for the New York Times, says that the U.S. is there to try to put some type of strength back to the Afghan and Pakistani governments. “There is really no solutions, he says, because once we leave, things will continue the way they are, we just want to give the Pakistani and Afghan people an opportunity at a better government.”

President Obama called to exercise new dialogue with terrorist groups, saying in statement in his first year of office, that he wants to reach out to moderate elements of the Taliban in Mesopotamia.

History professor at PVCC, Dr. Vaswati Ghosh says, “There are absolutely no moderates in the Taliban or the al-Qaeda Organization, there is only terrorism and evil. These extremists will not change, this is their life; it’s their Jihad.”

Therefore: The U.S. continues its war on terrorism, can we win? Maybe not, perhaps the goal is to simply destroy as much of the terrorist’s infrastructure as possible, kill as many Taliban and Al Qaeda leaders, and hopefully capture the mastermind Osama Bin Laden.